Linux.com Article DB: Two Years of the LiNUX.COMmunity!

On May 18, 1999, coordinated with the Linux Expo in North Carolina, Linux.com went live. Those geeks who were not standing in line for Star Wars: The Phantom Menace tickets rejoiced. The site featured a news feed from LinuxToday, a Java chat client linked to #linuxhelp, editorials, tune-up tips, and many customizable user preferences. Feedback was generally positive, with the main complaint being the lack of archived content. The staff explained that their focus had been the site architecture, not the article content. "One of the biggest challenges of getting Linux.com up and running was our time constraints. We had to build a site that could stand up under the pressure of lots of hits, be maintainable by a large group of community volunteers, and be able to expand quickly - and the site had to come together in a few weeks time," recalls James Byers. Over the next few weeks the volunteer staff would grow by leaps and bounds as people signed on to write articles, manage sections, give out support help in #linuxhelp, and do all the other odd jobs that needed doing.

I can truly say that the launch of Linux.com was a team effort, and without that team, there would have been no site. -Trae McCombs, Site Founder

As the months sped by Linux.com added many new sections to its lineup. Hardware, desktops, and multimedia, among others, were featured with their own Linux.com sub-domains. The site got a facelift just in time for the second LinuxWorld Conference and Expo where many of the staffers met each other for the first time. Jeff recalls, "The first time we all met each other in person was an interesting time. The strangest thing about communicating remotely is that you create an image in your head of the person on IRC or email, and then you're often proven completely wrong -- not just with physical appearance but with their entire attitude." After many sleepless nights working on the redesign, it's no wonder that most of the attendees fell asleep in the beanbags at the Linux.com booth at LWCE.

By the fall of 1999 Linux.com had over fifty staffers, both paid and volunteer, working on everything from development to writing to systems administration. The site was attracting tens of thousands of unique page views every day.

The Linux.com working environment was a lot like a beehive. People from all over the world were collectively working on what would be Linux.com, a site that had never existed before. The initial development of Linux.com, with all the excitement and anticipation, was one of the greatest examples of teamwork I've ever been involved in. It is a good model of what the community is all about. -Dean Henrichsmeyer, Site Director

Originally Published: Monday, 14 May 2001	Author: Jessica Sheffield
Published to: interact_featured_articles/General	Page: 3/6 - [Printable]
Two Years of the LiNUX.COMmunity! Celebrate two years of Linux.com! Join us as we take a look back at how it all got started, where we are today, and where we're headed. Come on in for the whole the story from the people who lived it!

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On May 18, 1999, coordinated with the Linux Expo in North Carolina, Linux.com went live. Those geeks who were not standing in line for Star Wars: The Phantom Menace tickets rejoiced. The site featured a news feed from LinuxToday, a Java chat client linked to #linuxhelp, editorials, tune-up tips, and many customizable user preferences. Feedback was generally positive, with the main complaint being the lack of archived content. The staff explained that their focus had been the site architecture, not the article content. "One of the biggest challenges of getting Linux.com up and running was our time constraints. We had to build a site that could stand up under the pressure of lots of hits, be maintainable by a large group of community volunteers, and be able to expand quickly - and the site had to come together in a few weeks time," recalls James Byers. Over the next few weeks the volunteer staff would grow by leaps and bounds as people signed on to write articles, manage sections, give out support help in #linuxhelp, and do all the other odd jobs that needed doing. I can truly say that the launch of Linux.com was a team effort, and without that team, there would have been no site. -Trae McCombs, Site Founder As the months sped by Linux.com added many new sections to its lineup. Hardware, desktops, and multimedia, among others, were featured with their own Linux.com sub-domains. The site got a facelift just in time for the second LinuxWorld Conference and Expo where many of the staffers met each other for the first time. Jeff recalls, "The first time we all met each other in person was an interesting time. The strangest thing about communicating remotely is that you create an image in your head of the person on IRC or email, and then you're often proven completely wrong -- not just with physical appearance but with their entire attitude." After many sleepless nights working on the redesign, it's no wonder that most of the attendees fell asleep in the beanbags at the Linux.com booth at LWCE. By the fall of 1999 Linux.com had over fifty staffers, both paid and volunteer, working on everything from development to writing to systems administration. The site was attracting tens of thousands of unique page views every day. The Linux.com working environment was a lot like a beehive. People from all over the world were collectively working on what would be Linux.com, a site that had never existed before. The initial development of Linux.com, with all the excitement and anticipation, was one of the greatest examples of teamwork I've ever been involved in. It is a good model of what the community is all about. -Dean Henrichsmeyer, Site Director
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